Bringing Back the Gods
by TalkativeHermit
Summary: Contains BoO Spoilers! Even after Leo and Calypso finally escape Ogygia, the end is far from over. They must team up with Percy and Annabeth to face possibly their hardest challenge yet. They are faced with a new enemy that they never thought was possible: mortals? In order to keep Western Civilization alive the four demigods will have to interact with the human world.
1. Chapter 1: Leo

**Author's note:**

**This is my first fanfiction so bear with me please. It may not be the best work ever written.**

**Also, I don't own any of the characters or settings that appeared in the PJO or HoO books.**

**Ok, here we go…**

Chapter One: Leo

Leo was tired of crashing spontaneously into gardens. It wasn't like he had anything against them, and he supposed he should be grateful for the soft landing spot. Festus honestly was about ready to plummet to the earth anyway, the only thing keeping him together being Calypso's magical singing and Leo's sheer willpower. It just so happened that every garden on earth wanted to welcome them. They seemed to want to attract Calypso to them, and whenever Leo was being careless and accidentally flew over a garden, _BOOM! _They would plummet toward earth. Cue the flowers cushioning Calypso's fall. Cue Leo getting knocked out by something or another. Cue a few more days of Calypso-healing before they could fly again.

This time, Calypso had been leaning forward over his shoulder, her hair swirling in the wind in front of them, and Leo had been distracted by the scent of her, and her arms wrapped about his waist, and how close she was to him…which had led to them accidentally crash landing in Central Park. As Festus spiraled downward, he could tell that this was more than the dragon could take. Maybe it was some sort of Son-of-Hephaestus power, or maybe he was just surprised that Festus had actually lasted this long, but he wasn't surprised upon hitting the ground to see metal parts scattered everywhere. He was, however, very surprised to hear a quite recognizable voice exclaim, "Oh my gods! Is that…Leo?!" before the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2: Leo

**I don't own any characters or settings mentioned in the PJO or HoO books.**

**Please write a review and let me know what parts you like/don't like and feel free to leave suggestions!**

Chapter Two: Leo

Leo woke up to find 4 faces looming over his. He blinked a few times before identifying them as Calypso, Percy and Annabeth. Wait….Percy and Annabeth?! He figured they must have been near Central Park when they crashed. And now that he thought about it he could vaguely remember hearing Annabeth's voice before he blacked out.

"How do you feel?" Calypso asked, looking worried.

"I'm okay," he responded, his voice sounding scratchy from having not been used. He cleared his throat and tried again, "I'm good, really. How long was I out for?"

"Three days! And you barely moved at all!" Percy butted in, "And I thought _I _could sleep like a rock!"

"You _can _sleep like a rock," Annabeth said, poking Percy in the stomach, much to his protest. "Oh. And we have a visitor," she said grimly, turning back to face Leo with a wry smile. As if on cue, a tall guy in a pinstripe suit walked stylishly into the room. Unfortunately, Leo had seen him before, fighting alongside Jason in their battle against the giants. Calypso also, had apparently met him before because she stepped forward and crossed her arms.

"Zeus," she said with little emotion.

"Oh, hello! Nice to see you again…..um…..uhhh….who are you exactly?" he questioned.

"Does the name Calypso ring a bell?" she responded sarcastically.

"Calypso! Right, right! You're that Titan daughter I locked away on an island for eternity, aren't you?" he said casually and Leo figured he should intervene before his girlfriend ended up as a smoking pile of ashes or he'd have to explain to the Olympian council why their leader was no longer going to be present at meetings for a few centuries while he reformed. So he stood up quickly, ignoring the black spots that formed in his vision and wrapped his arms around Calypso's waist, so that she wouldn't start preforming her voodoo magic and turn Zeus into a patch of roses or something.

"As much as I'd love to see Calypso beat the crap out of you, Zeus," he said, earning him a thumbs-up from Percy, "I sincerely doubt that's why you're here."

"No, I'm afraid we have other matters to discuss," Zeus replied, "but let's go to Olympus to do so, where the council will be gathering for an emergency meeting pertaining the four of you."

30 minutes and one very awkward elevator ride later, where Zeus felt the need to hum along and tap his foot to the Michael Jackson song playing as elevator music, Percy, Annabeth, Calypso, and Leo were standing before the mercy of the Olympian council. All of the gods were sitting in their thrones trying their best to look all high and mighty. Compared to them, the four demigods looked like ants just waiting to be stepped on. But Leo could tell that almost none of them were at their full potential of godliness. A few of them, such as Aphrodite and Hermes were glowing just as brightly as usual, looking comfortable in their godly auras. Others though, like Hera and Artemis, almost seemed as if they were fading away. Percy frowned upon seeing his father Poseidon, who was looking maybe not as bad as some others, but certainly at least a little sickly, Leo decided.

Zeus called the council to attention, "Gods, demigods, and uh...what are you exactly?" He addressed the question to Calypso. She just shrugged. He cleared his throat. "Gods, demigods, and whatever sort of immortal being she is," his voice thundered throughout the room. "We have called you here today to discuss the problem at hand. All the Olympian gods nodded in submission.

Percy looked at him and mouthed, _Do you know what they're talking about?_

Leo mouthed back, _No idea. _He then realized Zeus was still talking and tried to listen.

"…and we will send these courageous heroes on a quest. I have been reluctant to do so, but it seems that it is the only way to save western civilization, and quite frankly, the entire human race along with it. We all knew that someday this moment might come. Our powers are diminished after the war with Gaea. It seems it was only a matter of time before we all started to fade away from lack of belief in the mortals. It is true that they still rely on Apollo's sun for warmth and daylight. They still fall under Aphrodite's spell. But Poseidon's rivers are polluted, there is a 50% divorce rate leaving Hera's control weak, and Demeter's lovely fields are being replaced by cement and stone and skyscrapers. We need the entire Olympian council to be able to continue on as we are. It is now up to you four heroes to restore the gods to their place of honor in the mortal world and save western civilization!"


	3. Chapter 3: Percy

**Author's Note:**

**Ok, so I hope you like the new chapter! I promise there will be more action in the next one, because these first three chapters have been mostly set up. If you could please write a review and let me know whether or not you liked it that would be hugely helpful, considering this is my first chapter.**

**Also, I own nothing that appeared in the PJO or HoO series.**

Chapter Three: Percy

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. The gods…..die? It just wasn't something that happened. The gods were immortal! They couldn't die! _Not die, _he amended, more like….fade away. He supposed that he should be less shocked. After all, he himself had seen Pan, the god of the wild fade away to nothingness. Still, the idea was so new that he just couldn't quite grasp it.

And even better yet, Percy was supposed to fix everything and save the world. Again. What else was new? Of course, this time was _different._ Instead of fighting old and powerful immortals in the demigod world, which he was already a pro at; Percy would be expected to be some sort of inspirational figure in the human world, where he was very bad at even fitting in, much less being a _hero_ to the mortals_. _

And oh gods, _Poseidon_. Percy couldn't look at his father for more than a few seconds before he had to avert his eyes. It was that painful. Poseidon had once said to Percy that however his underwater kingdom was faring was reflected in the god himself. If that was true, the kingdom must be doing very badly indeed. Poseidon's skin was wrinkled and streaked with mud, and his hair was grayed. Annabeth must have seen his expression noticed his distress, because he felt her fingers entwine with his. Percy scooted a little closer to her, and he was reminded, for the bajillionth time, how lucky he was to have her. They had been through so much; survived so many challenges thrown at them, it was unbelievable they were both still alive. Percy wasn't sure what he would do if he lost Annabeth, and he didn't want to even consider the possibility, so he put the thought aside.

As much as Percy hated the idea of going back into his usual routine of; kill monsters, almost die, make some allies, almost die a few more times, kill some more monsters, save the world, he knew that he had to do this. So he took a deep breath, released Annabeth's hand, set his shoulders defiantly, and stepped forward.

"I'm in," he said. He put all his effort into making sure the words were steady, and what he hoped sounded brave. Annabeth shrugged, but stepped forward also,

"Ok, me too," she said.

Leo and Calypso shared a look before simultaneously saying, "Us too."

"Wonderful!" Zeus clapped his hands together, "Any objections from the Olympian council?" They all more or less murmured consent, and Percy thought that for once, the council was going to agree on something. But with the gods, of course, that was never the case.

Apollo cleared his throat, "I'm good with the general plan and all," he explained, waving his hands for emphasis. "But she," he said, pointing to Calypso, "is not allowed to go." The room was silent.

Finally Zeus said hesitantly, "Erm…why?" Apollo sighed, as though he had been worried someone might question his intentions. He kept glancing back and forth between Leo and Calypso with a weird glint in his eyes, was that...fear?

Finally Apollo shrugged and said, "I have my reasons. I don't care what else you do with the demigods, but we can't allow her to go. That would be a _really _bad idea. Actually, we should send Calypso back to her island." This was quite enough to make Percy speak up. He wasn't in love with the immortal goddess like Leo, but to throw her back on Ogygia? That was just cruel. He opened his mouth, ready to speak, but somebody else got to it first. And that somebody was Leo. Leo stared the god right in his fire-y eyes.

"There is _no way_ that is happening," he said. "If she doesn't go on this quest, neither do I."

"Apollo, a word with you real quickly," Zeus beckoned the sun god ever. They had a short but brutal conversation in hushed tones. Apollo said something and Zeus's eyes widened in disbelief, before the king of the gods countered the statement with a dismissive wave of his arm. Apollo bowed his head and returned back to his throne. "It's settled. Calypso will be allowed on this quest," he said with the finality of a judge. Percy saw Calypso breathe a sigh of relief, and Leo's fists unclench. "Now, because you four are going to be interacting with the human world for this quest, you will go to high school, just like any normal human would," Zeus declared, earning shocked speechlessness from the four demigods, "Do your best not to get kicked out." He said this with a meaningful glance at Percy, and he shifted uncomfortably. Percy had never exactly been a great student. "Lastly, we've arranged to have you four stay in an apartment in New York. You'll be attending Goode high and Coach Hedge will stay with you as your legal guardian. Hermes has arranged transportation to and from school. Aphrodite will supply your outfit for every day, Athena has taken care to see that you've all been placed in the right classes and have all the proper school supplies. School starts on Monday so you all should have time to get situated. Hermes?" And with a swish of the messenger god's hand, they were transported to their new home.


	4. Chapter 4: Annabeth

**Ok, this chapter still isn't very exciting. Hopefully in my next one something interesting will happen. Either way, I hope you guys like it! Please leave a review if you have time and let me know what you liked/didn't like.**

**As usual, I own nothing that appeared in PJO or HoO.**

Chapter Four: Annabeth

Annabeth found herself in a black void of nothingness for a few seconds, before she was transported. She had to sit down on the floor and close her eyes for a count of three before the wooziness went away and she could analyze her surroundings. And when she did, she couldn't believe her eyes. Wow. Just…wow. Her room was amazing. The architecture was gorgeous. High arching ceilings, tall picture windows, lovely grays and whites…she realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it quickly. Bookshelves lined the walls, so high that there was a spiral staircase leading up to another level. She had a whiteboard and a very high-tech looking computer sitting atop a desk. A four poster bed with soft gray sheets sat in the corner and a mannequin stood on a raised platform, currently sporting a comfy looking set of owl pajamas. She couldn't find a dresser or a hamper, so she assumed that her outfits would appear magically on the mannequin and poof away when she took them off. That meant she would be wearing whatever Aphrodite chose for her always. Great. Just great. She remembered that the four of them were supposed to be living in an apartment. But just her room alone was way bigger than any apartment she'd ever seen.

Annabeth had just come to the conclusion that the size of her room must be due to some kind of godly magic when Percy walked in, gazing with wide eyes at the high ceilings. Annabeth ran over to him, her footsteps echoing on the shiny hardwood floor. He looked at her with a sideways grin.

"Wow," he said, "Annabeth, your room is...gigantic."

She laughed, "I know. I have no idea how I'm going to get any sleep in here." He waggled he eyebrows at her, smirking mischievously.

"I know a few ways that I could help…"

"Shut up, seaweed brain." Annabeth aimed a punch at his face, and Percy ducked easily, looking at her with an expression of mock hurt on his face.

"I'm not _that _bad of a boyfriend, am I?" Her response was muffled as Percy's lips caught hers in a kiss. His lips moved against hers, and she closed her eyes. Annabeth raised her arms to hook around his neck, unconsciously digging her fingers into his tousled hair. She pressed her body up against his, nibbling tentatively on his lower lip. She felt a small groan escape the back of Percy's throat and his arms came up from around where they were on her waist to her back, pressing her even closer to him. Annabeth realized that she was pressed up against one of her many bookshelves and wasn't completely sure how she had gotten there. She didn't care. She wanted more of this, more of him. She heard a small, feminine cough from over by the doorway. Annabeth's eyes snapped open and she and Percy awkwardly stumbled apart. She tried to comb out some of the curls in her hair, and was aware of Percy straightening his wrinkled shirt. She was sure her face was as red as a tomato, but at least their intruder was no less flushed.

Calypso glanced back and forth between the two of them, speechless, before she managed to stammer, "I…um…come to…kitchen. Food." Before she promptly turned on her heel and walked down the hallway at a brisk pace. Annabeth located a brush in one of the drawers of her new desk and quickly combed her hair before she and Percy headed the same way Calypso had gone.

They reached the kitchen, and were surprised to find the table already laid out for them. Leo and Calypso were sitting on one side of the table next to each other. The table was evidently laid out specifically for each person. Each chair was different. Leo's chair had all sorts of gears and things in it, that Annabeth was sure he would spend time after dinner fiddling with. Calypso's was simple but elegant, looking a little bit like a chair you might find outside of a local cafe. The two chairs on the other side of the table were obviously meant for her and Percy. Hers was simple wooden, with a pretty design etched on the back. Percy's was decorated with seashells and coral patterns. They sat in their designated seats. As soon as all four of them were there, food appeared on the table. That night, they appeared to be eating pasta with steamed veggies. They ate in silence. Calypso kept glancing up at her, when she thought Annabeth wasn't looking. Annabeth immediately went on hyper-awareness mode. They hadn't really gotten time to talk at Percy's mom's apartment before Zeus barged in, telling them that they were needed on Olympus once Leo awoke. Annabeth suddenly remembered the curse demons in Tartarus. She shivered, thinking of Calypso's curse. Well, she didn't know for certain it was Calypso's. But honestly, who else? Annabeth's breath hitched.

_Was it possible that Calypso still liked Percy? _Calypso had seemed totally devoted to Leo so far, but why wouldn't she still be in love with Percy, at least a little bit? _Percy was the complete package; sweet, powerful, protective, and certainly not bad looking either,_ Annabeth mused. The next time Calypso glanced up uncertainly, Annabeth glared right back. 

* * *

><p>Annabeth woke up feeling better rested then she had in days. Her new bed was so comfortable; she didn't want to ever get out of bed- Which was a bummer, because the self-setting alarm that had appeared on her desk overnight was blaring…and all the way across the room. As she stumbled to her feet and walked over to turn it off, her bed magically remade itself behind her. Annabeth then turned to face her outfit for the day and immediately wanted to sigh in relief. Aphrodite had practically supplied her with dark jeans, possibly a little tighter than Annabeth would have chosen for herself, black boots, and a long shirt that hugged her athletic body. She found a button that was labeled, "hairdo button" and pushed it experimentally. She reached up at felt her head, to find it was tied into a perfect ponytail with simple curls hanging down and framing her face. The button automatically changed to "makeup button" and groaning inwardly, Annabeth pushed it, figuring if she didn't, Aphrodite would curse her with hideous outfits for a month or something like that. Annabeth found a full length mirror leaning against the wall next to her bed, and was relieved to see that Aphrodite had kept Annabeth's makeup to a minimum for today.<p>

She shouldered the pre-packed backpack she had found on the mannequin, and headed for the kitchen, where Percy was already waiting for her. Percy was looking very uncomfortable in ripped jeans and a leather jacket, with his hair tousled just enough to look like he hadn't tried very hard on it and also really attractive at the same time. She eyed him with a smile playing on her lips.

Percy sighed and mumbled something that sure sounded a lot like, "I hate Aphrodite" before pulling a piece of slightly crumpled printer paper out of his back pocket. He showed it to Annabeth. "Have you seen your schedule yet? It should be in your backpack."

"No I haven't," she said, swinging her backpack around and unzipping it, to find that sure enough, a piece of paper that looked like Percy's was sitting amongst the books. She pulled it out and eyed it. Annabeth was going to be taking advanced algebra, English, chemistry, and ancient history. She also was a library assistant, and had an off period near the end of the day. When she and Percy compared their schedules, they found that the two of them had English, ancient history, and off period together. "Now, how are we supposed to be getting to school?" Annabeth wondered aloud.

Percy gave her that lopsided grin she had come to love and said, "It appears that I'm driving us. Come on." He led her to the garage, where they hopped into a black sports car, and they were on their way to the first day of school.


	5. Chapter 5: Annabeth

**Author's Note:**

**I really hope you like this latest addition to my story! This one is my personal favorite so far. Please leave a review and let me know if you share similar feelings about it or if not, what your thoughts are. Ideas for this story or a new one are also much appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Annabeth stepped out of the car, feeling nervous and excited. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to act at Goode. Sure, she'd been to mortal school before. But then, she had always laid low. She was that quiet, nerdy girl that sat in the back of the room and only raised her hand when nobody else knew the answer. She didn't draw attention to herself but that was okay with Annabeth. This year, things would be way different. They had to work their way up to the highest level of social class and manage to convince _everyone_ that the gods were real. This time, it was not only expected but necessary for them to be the center of attention.

Percy certainly had no problem catching the eye of the preppy Goode students. In his new ridiculous leather-and-jeans look, all of Percy's old friends (and enemies) were immediately curious. Annabeth recognized some of them as Percy had described. A few of them waved Percy over and he smiled at Annabeth before taking her hand.

They started over hand in hand and she looked up at him. Annabeth had always loved to watch Percy when he didn't realize he was being scrutinized. His hair was sticking up in a few places and he had a scar on his jaw from their most recent quest that would probably be there forever. His lips formed a crooked line that Annabeth couldn't decide whether it was a smile or smirk. His sea green eyes were piercing against his tanned skin and they gleamed with excitement. Then they grew urgent. Startled, Annabeth followed his gaze to behind a group of students to see none other than her favorite empousa.

"Annabeth, it's Kelli!" Percy shouted, already uncapping riptide.

"I noticed!" she said, pulling her drakon-bone sword from her backpack where she had stored it earlier, breaking into a sprint after him.

Upon their approach, Kelli, who had been shamelessly pursuing a rather scandalized looking freshman, turned and hissed. Her eyes glowed red and her legs changed, one appearing to be made out of bronze, the other being a donkey leg. Her teeth elongated into nasty looking fangs and her hair turned into flames. Immediately all the mortals scattered with horrified shrieks and wide eyes.

"Hey, Kelli! I thought Bob killed you in Tartarus!" shouted Percy, most likely to keep the empousa's attention focused on him instead of the innocent students and Annabeth rolled her eyes. Percy was such a hero sometimes it was ridiculous.

"You _fool_!" Kelli screeched, turning to stare at them with her glow-y eyes, "Tartarus feeds on misery! The more misery there is down there, the faster we monsters heal. The pure suffering of you two alone while you were in the pit shall be feeding monsters for ages!" She cackled, and then lunged at them, claws extended. Annabeth was dimly aware of humans scrambling in every direction, some into Goode, presumably to get a teacher. She didn't know or care what they saw, but she was too focused on Kelli for that to matter to her. Annabeth had fought with Percy countless times and she didn't even need to say anything to him before they lunged at the empousa. She dodged off to the side while Percy started flinging insults at Kelli to direct her attention away from Annabeth.

Annabeth ran behind Kelli and stabbed the empousa in the thigh, making her howl and turn around. Percy swiftly stabbed her in the gut from behind, but not before Kelli reared and kicked Annabeth in the stomach with her donkey hoof, hard. Annabeth doubled over in pain, black spots forming in her eyes. Kelli grinned, baring her fangs and roared with laughter.

"You foolish demigod! Thinking you could best me, _senior empousa_! Your death is long overdue!" Annabeth responded with a really attractive grunt of pain before tightening her fist around her sword to stab Kelli again. Thankfully, Percy got to it more quickly. He deftly sliced of Kelli's head and yellow dust exploded everywhere, making them wheeze and cough. He dropped riptide and ran forward to wrap and arm around Annabeth.

"Hey, you okay?" said Percy, cupping her chin with his and tilting her face upward so that he could look into her eyes.

"I'm fine," she replied brusquely. Annabeth wrapped her arms around his waist to steady herself, cringing. "I probably have a few bruised ribs, but nothing major." Percy smiled at her with apparent relief and she melted under his gaze, squeezing her arms even tighter around him and burying her face in his chest. They headed towards the school, the other students closing in around them. Annabeth caught snippets of what they were saying through the general chaos of the scenario.

"What _was_ that?"

"What's going on?"

"Are you guys like, stunt actors or something?"

"Why did our cheerleader turn into a crazy fire-hair lady?" At this comment Percy stopped dead in his tracks.

"Wait…what?" he said, looking confused.

"I mean, one minute there was this cheerleader and all. And the next minute you guys are fighting her. But I swear that I glimpsed you guys fighting a weird lady with glowing eyes and funny legs instead." Percy turned to face the rest of the students who had also stopped and were staring at them.

"Is that what everybody saw?" They all more or less gave murmurs of consent. Percy started pacing, letting go of Annabeth and forcing her to stand on her own. "This is bad," he said, "This is really, really bad." Annabeth understood what he meant. If mortals were already starting to see through The Mist, the gods must be faring a whole lot worse than Zeus had let on. Hecate's immortality was obviously well on its way to being lost. Probably just keeping the mist running was tapping her energy severely. Annabeth suddenly had an idea.

"Percy," she said, "show them riptide." He frowned but brought out his ballpoint pen. Percy held it out in front of him for everyone watching to see. They all leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the mighty weapon.

"It's…a pen," one girl stated, "What's so special about it?"

"Back up," Percy said. Once everyone complied uncertainly, he took off the cap with a flourish and held up the gleaming blade. There was a collective "_ooooooooh"_ from everyone gathered around them, before one guy started to laugh.

"Wow! You must have had to switch your pen and that fake sword _so_oo fast!" he said with enthusiasm. Everybody else joined in the awe-inspired laughter.

"Dude, are you some sort of magician?"

"I have been to magic shows before, but THAT was the best trick I have ever seen done!" Annabeth felt despair overwhelm her.

"No, no, no! His pen _actually _turns into a sword! Well, more like his sword turns into a pen!" she said. They all laughed harder. "You have to believe me!" she said, cringing inwardly at her own words. They did not _have _to do anything she said. She should be wiser than that. She was a daughter of Athena for the gods' sake. Why couldn't she pick her words more carefully? That's when a horrible thought occurred to her: if the gods faded away, what would happen to demigods?

If you were a mortal and your parent died, you might be sad and broken, but you eventually would be able to continue on with your life. You might feel like a part of yourself had been lost, but it wouldn't be, not really. But being a demigod was different than being a mortal. Demigods operated by a different set of rules than humans. For one thing, the gods didn't have DNA. After all, Annabeth was _half god._ She probably couldn't fade away like a god, but if Athena did…who knows what would happen. What if the fact of Athena's godly essence being intact was the only reason Annabeth herself was still around?

She suddenly remembered her and Percy's trip back from Tartarus. Annabeth had been so afraid that Bob's finger would falter- so afraid that she and Percy would be stuck in the limbo between pit and earth for eternity. She imagined that Athena fading away would result in something somewhat similar to that for Annabeth. She'd be caught somewhere in between life and death; between existence and oblivion. Annabeth couldn't even begin to fathom what that would be like, so she set the thought aside for the time. But the idea continued to haunt her throughout the rest of the day. Could demigods fade away too?


	6. Chapter 6: Calypso

**Author's Note:**

**Ok. I know it's been a loooooong time since I updated. So long that you people who actually still remember this story exists are probably going to have to re-read some to know what's happening. So let me just give you my condolences because I know firsthand how annoying it is to re-read a fanfiction story when the author hasn't updated in a while. Sorry! Hopefully I shall be able to post more often because my winter break is coming up here in three days! (so close!) I'll try to write more often. Thank you to all the lovely people who will read and review this new chapter since it's been so long.**

**And finally, we have here today folks, a special guest to announce our disclaimer.**

**Percy: But I don't want to!**

**Me: Too bad!**

**Percy: Why do I have to? I don't want to own to Rick Riordan! He's so cruel! You're much nicer.**

**Me: That's very nice of you to say. But wait until you see what I have in store for Caly- oops.**

**Percy: CALYPSO?! What are you going to do to her?**

**Me: I really shouldn't say any more. Do the disclaimer.**

**Percy: Fine. Anything in this story that appeared in the PJO or HoO belongs to Rick Riordan. Including me, unfortunately.**

Chapter Six: Calypso

Calypso woke up to a knocking at her door.

_Rap, rap, rap._

She rubbed her eyes blearily attempting to swing her legs out of bed.

_Rap, rap, rap._

Unfortunately, her muscles decided not to work and she fell onto the hardwood that was her floor, stifling a cry.

_Rap, rap, rap._

On shaky legs, she managed to get to her feet. Calypso leaned against her bedpost, trembling, before realizing she was cold. Calypso reached for a blanket and wrapped it around herself.

_Rap, rap, rap._

She quickly combed her tangled hair with her fingers. Calypso hoped that she looked somewhat presentable.

_Rap, rap, rap._

She sighed. "Come in!" Calypso tried to make her voice sound strong, but her feeble attempt did not fool the Super-Sized Mcshizzle, who came sauntering through the door, frowning at her. Calypso smiled, remembering when Leo had told her how he'd gotten that nickname.

_It had been not long after he'd rescued her and they had stopped in a seaside town. They had seemingly lost the evil wind spirits who'd been chasing them and needed some machine oil for Festus. She'd been sitting in a little café near where they landed, sipping her coffee and laughing while Leo told her his story about the nymphs. Calypso had never laughed as much as she did then. Not in her entire immortal life. And she probably wouldn't ever laugh that much again._

Calypso suddenly realized Leo had asked her a question and she blinked.

"I'm sorry…what?"

He sighed. "I just asked you if you were feeling okay. You look really pale."

"Leo, I'm fine, okay? I can handle myself." She winced. She sounded horrible. Her voice was airy and she knew she probably looked no better than she sounded, judging by Leo's expression.

"I know. You can handle anything. Still…what's happening is a lot for anyone to take on. I'm just worried."

"I'm fine," she repeated half-heartedly, "Just cold, I guess." Leo enveloped her in a hug, and she was surprised for the bajillionth time at how warm his body was. She assumed it came with his fire-boy powers, but Leo was always warm. He almost never wore a jacket, and whenever Calypso sat near him, she could feel the heat coming off of his body.

Leo pulled away and looked down at her. He was a few inches taller than Calypso, and had filled out more in the past few months so that he was less scrawny.

"Better?" he asked her.

"Better." Calypso lied, giving him a reassuring smile.

"That's good. We have to leave for school in about 30 minutes so get ready and then we can eat." She tilted her head to give him a quick kiss on the cheek but Leo turned at the last minute, grinning, and she ended up catching the corner of his mouth instead. She felt him smiling against her and Calypso melted internally. She was reminded again why she loved Leo so much. Leo broke the kiss, and she leaned forward, not wanting to stop. He laughed softly. "Get dressed Sunshine."

"Don't call me Sunshine," Calypso retorted halfheartedly. Leo winked at her on his way out the door, closing it behind him and making the room feel cold and again. She found a few buttons on the wall and a mannequin, and was soon dressed and makeup-ed.

Glancing behind her as she headed out the door, for a second, Calypso thought she saw a dark figure lingering. She shook her head and blinked her eyes. The figure was gone.


	7. Chapter 7: Percy

**Well, I hope everyone likes this chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it! If you have ANY corrections I need to make, please tell me because I only proofread this once instead of my normal three times before posting it.**

**Disclaimer: As usual, if you saw it in PJO or HoO, it's not mine.**

Chapter Seven: Percy

Percy's day was going horribly. First, he woke up to find his outfit. That was enough to put him a bad mood. Percy spent a good half an hour searching around his room before coming to the conclusion that unless he wanted to go to school in his pajamas, he would have to change into the outfit Aphrodite has prepared for him. At first, he actually did try to go in his pajamas. He grabbed his backpack and headed to the kitchen for breakfast, only to find himself fully clothed in ripped and faded black jeans that were way tighter than he would have ever wanted to wear. He was also wearing a t shirt and an unzipped leather jacket. To top it all off, he found himself in black sneakers- possibly the only thing in his entire outfit he would have considered wearing in public. Percy sighed and went to check his room again just in case there was any chance more, better clothes had appeared. Unfortunately, the mannequin remained empty.

As he grudgingly walked back towards the kitchen, he checked his watch to see it was already time for him and Annabeth to leave for school. He'd found a note the last night on his nightstand explaining that he'd be driving the two of them to school and that Hephaestus had already supplied them with a car. He checked his watch to see if it was time to leave yet. It was. He wasn't even going to get to eat breakfast. And he was really in the mood for some blue waffles.

Percy rolled his eyes up to the sky and mumbled, "Why me Aphrodite?" before he went to wait for Annabeth.

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And now he was headed into Goode at last. His friends probably thought he was insane. His girlfriend had a stab wound that he could tell hurt a lot more than she was letting on.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked her yet again.

"Percy I'm fine! It didn't hurt that much. Would you stop worrying?!" she snapped back, practically yelling. Percy blinked at her before shrugging and turning to walk to his first class, which was math. He didn't trust himself to say anything else to her, afraid he would offend her again, somehow.

Percy barely paid any attention to his math teacher. She was a nice lady with a cheerful smile but Percy just couldn't keep his mind on quadratics when he was already focused on Annabeth. What worried him wasn't the lashing out at him, although that did hurt. What worried him was the way she had acted while fighting Kelli. She'd decided to tell the mortals. Right there and then. It was a rash decision. And Annabeth _never _made rash decisions.

Percy was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice when the bell rang. And he also, unfortunately, didn't notice when a girl sauntered up to him, batting her very fake looking eyelashes.

"Hi," she said breathlessly, taking in Percy. She was wearing a skirt that he was almost certain didn't pass dress code and an off-the-shoulder top. She had straight black hair and even Percy could see that she had way too much makeup on. And makeup was definitely not Percy's department of expertise.

"Um, hi," he responded awkwardly. Percy knew that he was supposed to be making friends, but every instinct he had was telling him to run from this girl right then and there. Percy never before had had problems with the kinds of girls that this one was. They usually ignored him and decided to seek out guys that looked more like…well, exactly what Percy looked like at that day. She twirled her hair around her manicured fingernail and advanced on him. He looked around for an escape route and noticed that nobody was in the hallway. Percy cursed mentally.

"I've…um…swim team," he said before slipping past the girl and heading as quickly as he possibly could towards the boy's locker room. He pulled on his swim suit as quickly as he could and leaving his t shirt on, headed towards the pool door. The swim coach was a burly man who immediately looked up when Percy walked in. He blew his whistle and the swimmers slowed to a stop, looking up curiously at their new arrival. The man didn't bother to get up from his chair beside the pool. He made a _tsk tsk _sound that was a lot more intimidating than Percy would have thought.

"What do we have here?" he said.

"Hey, it's that stunt kid!" somebody offered, making Percy cringe at his experience earlier that morning.

"What's your name, kid?" the man asked gruffly.

"Percy, sir."

"Percy, eh?" The man said his name as though he were weighing it, trying it on for size, "Well, Percy, you must be the latest addition to my team. Now, normally I would throw you out right now for getting here late. But, I heard you were really fast. So how about this. Let's race you instead. And if you're good enough, I'll be real nice and not kick you off the team."

"Okay," he responded warily. He had a feeling of what was going to happen next. And he didn't like it one bit. Percy was absolutely confident that he could beat anyone on the team. Powers or not, he was a really good swimmer. The problem came with what he had to do to get in the water. How would the coach react…

"Pull off your shirt and get in the empty lane!" the coach barked. Percy shifted uncomfortably. "What are you hesitating for? You're wasting precious time here!" Percy sighed. There really was no way out of taking off his shirt. So he pulled it over his head, revealing his scars. He had plenty of them from over the years. The sword slashes from his quests with Camp Half Blood that hadn't quite healed. The stab wounds and cuts he'd gotten from his quest to unleash Thatnos. The slightly more recent scars from his journeys with the seven on the Argo 2 and battle with the giants. And then of course, there were the ones that came from Tartarus. Those would never fully heal. He'd met so many demons, faced so many challenges, and the scars were like a reminder of what he and Annabeth had had to go through. His mind was in about the same condition as his body was after surviving the pit of hell: horribly scarred yes, but stronger all the same.

Percy heard a bunch of the swimmers gasp simultaneously but he figured that they were going to discover it at some point. He hopped in the pool and willed himself to become wet, just like a regular mortal.

"READY! SET! GO!" the coach shouted. Percy kicked off the side of the pool and immediately took the lead. He swam, lapping the others with ease until the coach blew his whistle and declared that practice was over. Percy heard the coach say something but he was no longer listening. At the bottom of the deep end of the pool there was a Naiad. He swam towards it.

"Hello!" the spirit said merrily, before her expression soured, "I'm afraid I'm not here to watch you swim, although you are absolutely lovely when you do!"

"Thanks," he replied. How strange, that he felt so at ease with this spirit and so awkward in the world of mortals.

"Come," she said with a great sadness in her voice, "your father wants to see you, Percy." She led him through some sort of water portal, and he was suddenly standing in his father's kingdom, next to a bed of soft seaweed and reeds. Beautiful water spirits, fish, and other various sea creatures were all rushing to and from. Percy leaned over the side of the green cocoon, and his breath caught. In it lay an old man. He had very pale, wrinkled skin and long white hair. His almost white skin appeared as though it was stretched tight over his bones, and his eyes were sunken holes. He radiated a godly aura, one that flicked, was very weak. This was a god Percy had certainly never met before. He searched around for the water spirit that had brought him, but he couldn't see her anywhere. He clenched his teeth and leaned over the edge of the man's deathbed, for he was indeed dying.

"Excuse me sir," Percy said, "but would you happen to know where I can find Poseidon?" The man chuckled and Percy stumbled backward. He knew that laugh. The dying man was _Poseidon. _The dying man was _his father._

"Percy, don't be afraid of this," Poseidon said, not unkindly. "My creatures give me strength. I know what you're thinking, but I am not yet on the verge of fading. The sea is polluted. It's not long before I do fade. But right now? I'm still in existence. Weak, but existing." Percy could only stare at this man that was his father, dumbfounded. He remembered Poseidon had once told Percy that his physical appearance represented the kingdom. The kingdom must be doing _very _badly.

Finally, Percy managed to croak out, "How long?"

"You have but weeks to complete this quest. Or I may fade away forever. The gods are not strong, Percy. Pan was like the first domino in a long stack. We're going to have to move the other dominos out of the way before the first can knock them over. Or I could very well be the second to fall."


End file.
